A. Field
The invention relates to methods and systems for providing “ringback” media, e.g., tones, music, speech or other media, to a caller's phone. Ringback is the ringing or other sound that a caller hears while waiting for the called party to answer the phone. The invention also relates to systems and methods for uploading information from the device to a platform providing ringback media, and uses of such information, e.g., for statistical analysis and generation of targeted promotional messages.
B. Related Art
In traditional phone systems, a switch in telephone network plays a ringback tone in the form of call tones to the calling party. The switch may be at caller's end of the call or at the called party's end of the call. The provision of call tones to a calling party is sometimes referred to in the art as “call tones service.”
In this respect, call tones service is different from some other services, such as customized ringers, screensavers, games and applications etc. In these other types of services, the end device (typically a mobile device which includes telephone functionality) downloads a specific type of media/information, and then runs it from the end device. For example, for ringers, the mobile device downloads the particular ringer media from a network-based server, and then the user can use the ringer by assigning it to callers or call types.
Call tones service, as noted above, is usually network-based. That is, call tones media is played from a network device (typically, a call tones server) not the end device. The call tones are packetized from a call tones server and transmitted over a communications network to the end device calling party. (Call tones are packetized if Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology is involved. Currently most call tones systems are TDM-based. In a non-VoIP scenario, the call tones would be transmitted the same way as traditional TDM voice signals). In some instances, the call tones server is operated by the third party provider of the call tones content. Regardless of whether the call tones server is operated by a wireless service provider or a third party content provider, downloading of call tones to the end device is unnecessary.
In a current method of operation, the call tones systems usually have a content management interface from where call tones contents are either manually or automatically provisioned. The call tones are supplied by a particular content provider that has contracted with the call tones service provider. Alternatively, the call tones service provider may choose to perform the content management function itself. Under this method, the call tones users usually access a call tones catalog and make purchases of call tones content via interactive interfaces provided by the call tones system. Such interface may take the form of a web interface, interactive voice response unit (IVR), or via short message service (SMS) or wireless application protocol (WAP) messaging.